


scribbled hearts on note paper

by interstellarbeams



Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Best Friends, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, Secret Crush, Tobin and Leif are surprisingly helpful in this while also being teenage boys, mentions of Eddie - Freeform, mentions of Joan Bennett, mentions of Mo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:02:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24274753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interstellarbeams/pseuds/interstellarbeams
Summary: Zoey has a major crush on her best friend, Max but she’s too afraid to tell him — Zoey’s bored doodling in class might just help her in this situation.
Relationships: Zoey Clarke & Max Richman, Zoey Clarke/Max Richman
Comments: 14
Kudos: 45





	scribbled hearts on note paper

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Kayla for encouraging me, Lizzie for looking this over and Leila for being excited over it. Thanks girls! 💜
> 
> This is probably a mess but I had to get out my feels and this is what happened. I have more fics in the works but this one is the only one that would cooperate. 😂
> 
> prompt: “Are you going to talk to me?”
> 
> Kudos and comments are appreciated! 💕

————

The hubbub of students talking as they filed into the classroom pulled Zoey’s attention from her pencil case where she had been rearranging her highlighters by color after she had hastily dumped them into her backpack that morning when she had to run for the bus.

Wet sneakers squeaked against the floor as they filed in, their attention on their conversations with their friends and their phones as they tried to hold on to the last vestiges of freedom before the homeroom bell rang and class started. Mr. Vargas was a notorious stickler against phone use during class and would hold the bathroom pass hostage when his students got too rowdy and disrupted his teaching.

Leif almost stepped on her toes as Tobin shoved him in the shoulder, both of them laughing and ignoring her annoyed glare as she rescued her backpack from their big, blundering feet. 

Zoey turned her attention away from the two boys and watched the door, waiting for Max to show up. Not that she would let him know just how much his presence made Spanish class better. He thought every class was interesting, from gym to geometry, choir to chemistry and was ready to learn whatever was on the syllabus for that semester. Spanish, for Zoey, was a chore and she struggled through it, but Max made studying verbs and writing out conjugates, at least entertaining. 

There was another reason she looked forward to seeing her best friend every morning, one that she hadn’t even told her next door neighbor, Mo, who had become a pseudo-replacement for Max over the summer when his parents had shipped him off to stay away camp for a month and she had been stuck behind, lamenting how much the summer would suck without Max to do literally _everything_ with. 

She thought her mom also suspected, when she came home that afternoon after Max had told her he would be leaving and she had cried into her shoulder like her heart was broken… it had certainly felt like it because she had a big ol’ crush on Max Richman. And any amount of time away from him felt like torture and not the kind her parents gave out when she was in trouble, but the medieval type with the pincers, the rack and iron maiden and all that. 

It wasn’t something she had ever expected to feel for the boy who she had know since she was eight years old, who had seen her at her worst and who had teased her when she got braces and then bought her froyo from their favorite place after she cried, because she wouldn’t get them off until she was a senior in high school and would be a metal mouth forever. 

He had reassured her she would look better for them and that afterwards she wouldn’t even remember the pain and self-consciousness because she would have a blindingly beautiful smile. That had made her blush and she had thought about his sweetness for many days after that, a strange little twinge in her heart accompanying the memory of his smile. 

She had thought it was indigestion over the way she had scarfed down her breakfast before her appointment at the orthodontist but it hadn’t ended after that day. It continued to pester her every time he laughed at something she said, or wore that one t-shirt of his that pulled across his shoulders when he sat in front of her in class and that time he came over for a Fourth of July pool party and she had accidentally walked in on him changing in the bathroom and ran from the room like she had been scalded by hot water. It had been hard to look at him for days after that, although he had played it off like it was no big deal.

She didn’t know how to tell him how she felt and was scared that she would somehow reveal her feelings unwittingly. 

She was afraid that he wouldn’t return her feelings so in order to protect herself she had started drawing inwards, spending more time out of school with Mo and leaving Max to try to make friends with Leif and Tobin who lived in his apartment building, but that didn’t stop her from watching for him and saving him a seat in the cafeteria even though she kept her head buried in her textbook throughout lunch period. 

He probably thought there was something wrong with her. 

She was also worried that if she pushed him away too much longer he might no longer be her friend. She had enough worries with her grades and the stress of trying to get into MIT in a few years, on her plate and she didn’t need _this_ but she couldn’t tell her heart any different.

It still raced whenever he was near just like now, when he sauntered through the door, his backpack slung casually over one shoulder as he moved around the other students to take his seat. He looked over his shoulder, from the row over, giving her a quick, friendly wave before the bell rang overhead and Mr. Vargas shut the door with a snap and she had to bring her attention to the head of the class. 

They were halfway through the first worksheet when a paper ball landed on her desk. Snatching it up, she quickly stuck it underneath her leg and bent her head over her paper, heart racing at finding out what the paper had to say and half afraid that Mr. Vargas would notice her reading it and she would get in trouble. 

Her teacher bent over one of the other students who had a question and she quickly unraveled the crumpled note, eyes scanning quickly as she covertly glanced at her teacher’s turned back. 

_Want to hang out later?_ The paper read and Zoey bit her lip, her heart jumping in her chest at the thought of spending time with Max while another part of her wanted to curl into a ball and hide from the thought of being so close to him. 

She wavered on her decision but with the possibility of Mr. Vargas turning around any second hanging over her head, she scribbled a quick “yes” on the paper before tossing it back at him. It landed on the floor by his foot — _man, basketball in gym had not done her any favors_ — and he stepped on it so that Mr. Eagle-Eyes wouldn’t see.

__

Zoey turned her gaze back to her work. She didn’t need to see Max read the paper to know that her answer would bring an excited smile to his face. Excitement was one of the best feelings but for Zoey it was mixed with apprehension and she tucked her head back over her worksheet, praying that she wouldn’t chicken out and abandon him after saying yes.

————

As soon as third period was over, the hallways were filled with chattering students, grabbing their lunch boxes from their lockers and cash from their wallets as they clambered to get into the cafeteria lines and find the perfect seat among their friend groups.

Zoey sat down at her usual table and pulled out her book, _P.S. I Love You_ and attempted to get lost in the words of Cecilia Ahern — to forget about school and her current predicament and distract herself with Holly Kennedy’s problems. 

The tables filled up around her but she hardly noticed until Tobin sat down across from her and deliberately kicked her in the shin, an insincere, apologetic smile on his lips when she looked up from her book to glare at him. 

“Tobin, be cool, man.” Max set his lunch tray down next to her and frowned at Tobin who shrugged his shoulders and took a giant bite out of his pepperoni pizza slice then crammed a few fries in there for good measure.

Zoey had no idea how he got through the next three classes after eating so much food. She would have either hurled or fallen into a food coma after eating as many calories as he did every day at lunch, but she wasn’t a teenage boy and she usually didn’t eat lunch. 

Turning away from Tobin she glanced at Max, sending him a brief smile before she lifted her book and tried to keep reading but he made it nearly impossible when he insisted on sitting so close to her that his elbow brushed against hers every time he picked up his milk carton. 

The words on the page blurred before her eyes and she couldn’t focus long enough to start a new paragraph. His sarcastic laugh as he rolled his eyes at one of Leif’s backhanded disses rolled over her and she longed to hear one of his genuine laughs, specifically a laugh that she caused. The thought of the way his dark brown eyes would warm and all his attention would be directed towards her, made butterflies tickle her insides while anxiety made her want to run for the nearest girl’s bathroom. 

Lost in a daydream she barely noticed half of his ham sandwich appear in front of her and alongside her favorite peanut butter cookie that she knew he bought especially for her, because his allergy normally wouldn’t allow him to touch it except for the plastic wrap that secured it.

When she chanced a glance at him, the boys around them seemed to disappear although their over the top antics would usually get on her nerves and cause her no end of frustration as she tried to read her book, Max was an altogether different distraction. A distraction that she wouldn’t mind, day in and day out, twenty-four seven.

To be honest, she had never been one of the girly girls who played house and imagined being married one day after her prince charming came and swept her off her feet but Max Richman had made it hard for that side of her to remain hidden. Something she knew her father would smile at, her mother would rejoice at and David would use against her, typical older brother that he was. 

“Only Zoey Clarke would think she could survive a day of school on learning, without any real food.”

“Hush. I had breakfast.” She closed her book and pushed it away before reaching for the sandwich.

“ _Right…_ ” Max had been her friend long enough to know that what she considered breakfast — a dry waffle and a diet soda — was not what most people would call a real meal. 

Zoey stuck her tongue out at him before taking a bite of the sandwich and looking around the cafeteria in an attempt to ignore his laser focus. 

Mo sat a few tables away with most of the kids from choir, his sequined jacket shining brightly under the fluorescent lights. Mo’s own crush, Eddie, sat next to him but their interaction was immensely different from the way that Zoey was currently ignoring Max despite the sweetness he had shown her by offering her part of his lunch. She really didn’t deserve a guy like him. 

Max had turned towards her, the way he had his arm draped along the back of his chair, causing havoc on her hormones and she found herself staring. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden and not knowing what to do about it.

Tobin banged on the table across from them, making her jump and then blush at being caught staring. 

“Why don’t you two just like, get a room?” Tobin was very perceptive for someone who was always running his mouth, joking, laughing and rough-housing. How he had time to pay attention to Zoey and Max was beyond her, it was kinda creepy. 

“Dude!” Max shot Tobin a death glare which he seemed amused by as he leaned back against his chair and smugly crossed his arms. “What is your problem?” 

Leif leaned over towards them, as he finished his caesar salad, looking seriously between them and Tobin. “What’s going on?” 

“Nothing.” Zoey blurted out, cheeks burning, before she snatched up her book and squeezed past Max. She quickly left the cafeteria, ignoring the concerned sound of Max’s voice as he called after her, _escape_ the only thing on her mind.

————

Classical Lit class wasn’t as much fun without Max in it, despite her emotional dash away from him earlier, she still missed him. He had gym during third period and Zoey lamented the fact that the track field couldn’t be seen out the classroom windows. Though it probably was a good idea that she couldn’t, for Leif would not stop talking to her about Joan Bennet who was a senior that he had a humongous crush on — maybe bigger than hers for Max — and his chattering was enough distraction in her ear as she tried to read the chapter on The Golden Age of Rome.

“What is it about her that draws you in, anyways? She never smiles and she always wears black… do you think she even knows how to be happy? And you’re a sophomore, what chance do you think you have with her?” Zoey finally asked, turning her notebook so that it lined up with the edge of her textbook before glancing over at him. 

“I didn’t say I had a chance with her.” Leif scoffed as he leaned back and crossed his long arms over his cardigan-clad chest. 

“Then what’s the point of all the pining?” Zoey asked, doodling on her empty note page. Literature was her last class of the day and her attention tended to lag as the clock hand moved increasingly closer to three o’clock. 

Leif studied her for a moment and then glanced at the heart she was drawing on her notebook in a hot pink highlighter. 

“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?” He arched one eyebrow and she finally realized what she had been doing. Hastily she closed her notebook and shoved it into her backpack but it was too late.

“Why haven’t you told Max that you like _him_ , hmm? I saw the way you were looking at him at lunch and everyone knows how close you two are.”

“None of your business!” She snapped, her cheeks heating and she cursed her fair skin that showed blushes so easily.

“Hey, no judgements here.” Leif spoke, dropping his defensive position as Zoey took up hers, leaning over his desk. “I can see it. He’s got that boy next door charm and you spend so much time with him. I know I’m a little too snobby and Tobin, well, he just thinks too highly of himself.”

“What? Why would you say that? I never thought of your or, or Tobin in _that_ way.”

“I didn’t say that. I just meant, out of the choices in our class and our “friend” group, he makes the most sense, plus haven’t you known each other forever.”

“Something like that.” Zoey relaxed her shoulders, glancing up at the clock to see that only fifteen more minutes of class remained and then she would be able to escape this awkward conversation with her not-quite-friend. 

“Well, I know you don’t care much for me or Tobin but I’ll let you in on a little secret…”

Zoey stared at him but he didn’t say anything else and she started to get annoyed until she realized he wanted her to ask him what the secret was, clearly enjoying the undivided attention she was giving him.

 _Boys_ , Zoey thought, mentally rolling her eyes.

“What’s the secret?”

Leif leaned in even closer and Zoey struggled not to pull away, his invasion of her personal space making her uncomfortable.

“Max likes you too.” 

“ _What_? No, he doesn’t!” Zoey practically yelled, slumping into her desk chair, wide-eyed when the teacher glared at her. _Sorry_ , she mouthed, before gathering her textbook and notebook and packing them away, the seconds ticking by on the clock seeming to slow down as Leif continued.

“I’m serious, Zoey. He like, likes you, _likes_ you. You should tell him how you feel.” Leif nodded at her as the bell rang and he stood to walk out of the room, his sleek laptop bag slung over his shoulder.

Zoey didn’t know what to think. 

It was true that she didn’t trust Leif, he was a brown-noser with a crush on a girl who was way out of his league. He was also captain of the debate team and although not popular, he was well known and had his own posse of like-minded individuals who thought he was the best thing since iced coffee or Gigi Hadid. They weren’t friends but she had known him since middle school, his dad was her mother’s trusted physician and he did spend a lot of time around Max when Zoey was occupied. 

_Maybe he wasn’t lying_ , she thought as she crossed the hallway to take the stairs that led down to the first floor of the school. _Maybe I should tell Max how I feel._

“Hey Zo.” Max suddenly appeared at her elbow and she struggled to hold in a yelp. 

“What? Max! Don’t do that.”

“Sorry. Hey, are you okay? You look a little dazed.” Max frowned over at her and she quickly turned down the stairwell, trying to speed up so she could escape his questions but the stairway was clogged with students and she was brought up short.

“Zoey?” He asked, touching one hand to her elbow when he caught up to her. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” She spat out, trying to avoid the concern in his brown eyes that shot a wonderful, confusing warmth through her.

“Are you sure? You ran away earlier now you’re jumping when I speak to you? What happened?”

Zoey cursed Max’s intuitiveness. He was a teenage boy, shouldn’t he be focused on video games and the hot popular girl that all the other boys salivated over instead of paying attention to her. _Why couldn’t he be more like them? And leave her to drown in her unrequited feelings alone._

 _Because then he wouldn’t be Max_ , she thought to herself, as they finally exited the stairway and walked through the exit doors. 

“I’m just stressed that’s all. I’m feeling a lot of different things and adding schoolwork into it, i’m just a little jumpy that’s all.”

“Oh.” Max tightened his grip on his backpack as the afternoon sun beamed down on his brown curls giving them a reddish highlight and making her fingers itch to run through them.

They strolled down the sidewalk, the chattering of other students fading away as they walked towards Max’s apartment building. 

Tobin and Leif could be seen in the distance heading towards the same apartment building that they shared with Max — Tobin on his skateboard and Leif riding his bike, they moved quicker than Max and Zoey who preferred walking. Usually that was when they caught up on the parts of each other’s days that they missed being separated in other classes.

“Those two are literally attached at the hip.” Zoey nodded towards the boys, hoping to distract Max from the earlier scene when she had tried to escape him.

“Yeah, I mean. They’re literally inseparable…” Max trailed off, and she saw him glancing over at her from the corner of her eye. “Kinda like how we used to be. I was surprised when you agreed to hang out because you’ve been avoiding me lately.”

“No, I haven’t. I just, have had a lot of things going on… and Mo, well Mo is Mo and I just haven’t been free to spend time without you, that’s all.” Zoey’s palms broke out into a sweat and she tried to surreptitiously wipe them on her jeans without him noticing.

She turned to look at him, barely able to contain the racing of her heart at the look on his face. _Hurt_ was foremost but she also saw disbelief and that hurt her even more.

“You know, you could have said no if you didn’t want to come.” 

“I _did_ want to come or I wouldn’t have said yes.” Zoey argued, annoyed to hear her voice uptick. _Relax, Zoey, no need to make things worse by yelling at him._

Max glanced away, shoving one hand in his pocket and she wanted to reach out and stop him, to convince him with more than words that she did want to be with him and not just as a friend but she was a chicken so she didn’t say anything.

They kept on walking in silence, Tobin’s whooping as he rounded a curb and picked up speed, loud in the quiet afternoon. Zoey didn’t know what to say to mend their argument. She hadn’t wanted to come, that was true but not for the reasons that he thought and she didn’t know how to make him understand without revealing her feelings to him.

After a few moments, Max started talking, filling the silence that she hadn’t attempted to fill as she tried to figure out what to do to mend their strained relationship. He talked about his gym class and how the gym teacher had sat on the bleachers, chewing gum and scrolling through his phone while the students basically passed out jogging in the unusually warm spring sunshine. 

“Then Tobin collapsed, sweat pouring down his face, at Tiffany Churchhill’s feet. Trying to get her attention, ya know? And she literally stepped right over him and kept going. It was the funniest thing ever.” 

Zoey smiled, happy to be with Max. Even though he was upset with her for spending less time with him lately, he was still being a good friend and she appreciated it, more than he knew.

Max smiled back at her and she got distracted, didn’t see the lip of cement that didn’t line up on the sidewalk, tripped and before she knew it she was landing hard.

“Oh shit, Zoey! Are you okay?” Max crouched down next to her, one hand on her shoulder as he glanced over her, likely looking for injuries.

“Ow,” Zoey groaned, brushing the gravel from her bleeding palms and burning with embarrassment, “that hurt.”

She shifted to sit down and rubbed at her bruised knees, barely conscious of the notebooks that lay scattered around her until Max picked one up and stared at the open page. She wouldn’t have thought anything of it but usually he went into uber protective mode when it came to her safety — when they had been in third grade and some kids had teased her about her red hair on the playground, he had defended her like Simba when he and Nala faced the hyenas in The Lion King.

“What are you looking at?” she finally asked, trying to peer at it but he had it tilted so she couldn’t see it. She couldn’t understand why her literature notes would hold so much interest.

“Zoey, what is this?” He asked, a frown creasing his forehead and she finally saw what he had been staring at — the pink highlighter heart drawn in her notebook with his name scribbled inside. 

Her bored doodles had never caused her concern until now. Half the time her notebooks were filled with spirals, music notes, stars and hearts but recently she had started writing his name inside them, the action felt like an affirmation of her feelings despite the fact that she had never spoken them out loud to anyone  
before.

Zoey’s stomach dropped painfully and she didn’t even think before she pushed herself up and fled down the street. Tears filled her eyes and she could barely see through the blur. She didn’t know where she was going only that she had to get away from Max and that look on his face that had made her stomach drop to her toes.

After a few minutes she stopped, her calves burning from the run and her shoulders heaving from exertion. The tears that had spilled over and dripped down her cheeks blending with the sweat that poured down the sides of her face. She hiccuped, wiping a hand down her face as she tried to steady herself. 

The rush of tires on the pavement brought her attention back to her surroundings and she looked around, suddenly afraid because she didn’t know where she was. She patted her jacket pockets and the back pockets of her jeans but her phone wasn’t there and she realized her book bag was still with Max, wherever he was.

Dropping down onto the curb she pushed her hands through her hair and cursed her overreaction. Max probably thought she was a crazy person and now he had seen how she felt, through a stupid doodle she had drawn when she was bored in class and missing him. 

The minutes ticked by as the cars continued to pass by and the sun slowly sank. The scuff of a sneaker brought her head up and she exhaled, glad to see that it was Max and not some stranger, but then her heart rate picked up speed because now she would have to talk to him about how she felt and what he had seen. Running away was no longer an option. 

He sat down next to her, setting her backpack between them and she suddenly felt comfortable, despite the questions that he clearly wanted to ask, he just sat beside her, hands casually clasped between his knees.

She swallowed hard and turned to look back across the street, the metallic _click click click_ of a sprinkler in a nearby yard and the shrieks of children being sprayed by the cold water filled the air around them. 

“Are you going to talk to me?” He finally asked, shifting his weight so that he was looking at her.

She threaded her fingers together, staring down at them like they would offer her the answers to his question.

“I, uh, I’m sorry I ran away _again_.”

“It’s okay. I’m actually surprised how far you got after that fall. That was harsh. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Zoey huffed out a laugh, her voice trembling from her tears.

“I don’t want to be that person that pushes you about this. Uh, clearly you didn’t want to say anything or I would have heard about it. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m okay. I, uh, didn’t want you to find out. That’s true. That’s why I _didn’t_ want to come with you today, but I also did want to come, if that makes sense. It’s very confusing.”

“Yeah, yeah, feelings can be that way.”

“A scribbled heart on note paper wasn’t how I wanted you to find out. I was going to tell you, but I was scared. Scared that you wouldn’t feel the same way and that I would embarrass myself.” 

“You can tell me anything Zoey, even if it’s scary or awkward or sad, I’m here to listen. Though I have to admit, I was a little surprised when I saw that heart.” Max scrubbed his hands down the front of his shorts and Zoey realized his hands were shaking.

“Max? What is it?” She reached over and grabbed his hand and he blew out an agitated breath. She realized he was nervous too. 

“You can tell me anything too, ya know? I’m your best friend.” She hesitated, for a split second but voiced her feelings, finally. “I— I _love_ you.”

Max lifted his eyes to hers, a small smile lifting the corner of his lips. “I love you too. I’ve uh, liked you for a long time. And it scares the crap out of me, but I don’t want you to feel alone in this.”

“I’m never alone cause you’re always by my side.” She leaned over and dropped her head on his shoulder, squeezing his fingers tightly as the streets glowed in the warmth of the setting sun. 

“Max and Zoey sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” 

Zoey jerked upwards, turning her head to glance over her shoulder to see Tobin behind them, his skateboard tucked under one arm.

“Tobin,” Max groaned, “what are you doing here? Don’t you have somewhere else to be, like Leif’s?” 

“The streets are my kingdom, bro.” Tobin was your typical dude bro with his backwards cap and over usage of slang terms, but there was general interest in his eyes as he glanced between them. Leif would probably be first on the receiving end of any gossip if Max and Zoey didn’t escape his nosiness. They both realized it at the same time and without even looking at each other they quickly stood and crossed the street to head back towards the center of town and Zoey’s house.

“Fine, be like that!” He yelled at them, the sound of his skateboard hitting the cement a loud crack that echoed down the street but they pretended not to hear. 

They stayed in step as they walked down the sidewalk, their hands swinging at their sides and occasionally bumping together. Max finally got up the nerve to reach for her hand and he clasped it but she blew out a harsh breath at the sting of his hand against her abraded palm. 

“Oh, sorry. I forgot.” Max tried to apologize but she waved him off with a flippant gesture. He stopped, pulling her to a stop with him and lifted her hand to his lips, the touch of his mouth to her sensitive skin making her knees weak. She wanted more but she was afraid to ask, her dreams of him reciprocating her feelings only partly fulfilled.

“Max…” She whispered, the brightness of the streetlight above them casting his face in shadow, but she didn’t need to see it to know the shape of his face.

“Zoey…” He responded, the warmth in his voice and the roughness of his hand as it wrapped around her so much better than the Californian sunlight. 

“What do we do now?” She asked, surprised to hear the softness of her own voice, anticipation of what could happen next causing the butterflies in her stomach to whirl into a tornado.

“Well, I don’t know. What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.” She tilted her head to one side, watching the shadows play across his face and stepped closer until the tips of her sneakers met his. 

“Maybe Tobin had it right. Maybe we should...” She trailed off, popping up onto her toes to press her lips to his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and was immediately reminded of the feeling of coming home when he wrapped his around her waist. 

The air around them cooled as the sun sank below the horizon but they could have been in the middle of the windswept ocean during a storm and she probably wouldn’t have even noticed.

They pulled back, breathing in the same air as their lips hovered close again. Max’s eyes were even more beautiful up close and she felt like she could get lost in them. 

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.”


End file.
